Find The Switch

The Temple of Earth

I stood there, shaking. No, no, no, I thought. This can't be happening. They're going to want to keep me here, but I need to find my sister.

"Excuse me, sir, but are you okay?" one villager noticed me. I nodded, afraid of what was going to happen.

"Would you like some tea?" he offered. Realizing that I still had the taste of sewage in my mouth, I chose to follow the man into his home.

The man took the tea he had just prepared and poured it into the cup. "So, how is your day going so far?" he asked.

"Good," I lied.

"You know, you look a lot like Sarutahiko Okami, god of earth," the villager noticed, tilting his head. Then, he seemed like he had made an observation, because he turned around and shouted his wife's name.

Oh, no. It's happening. I'm never getting out of here.

The villager's wife rushed into the room, politely bowed, and then gasped. "He looks exactly like Sarutahiko!" she exclaimed, turning to her husband.

"That's what I thought!"

"Maybe he's the son of Sarutahiko! We should journey to the Temple of Earth, just in case."

"No, I'm actually not the son of Sarutahiko-" I interrupted.

"Oh, you don't know that! Think about the fame you could have if you were!" the female villager responded joyously.

Um, excuse me, I think I would know if I was the son of a god. I just had my life replayed right in front of me, and my parents were certainly not gods. But if I had fame. . . that means widespread knowledge of my presence, and that knowledge may reach my sister one day.

"Fine, I'll travel to the Temple of Earth," I gave in.

*   *   *

Turns out that the Temple of Earth was right outside the village, and it was just an overgrown house on a hill. It didn't take long to get there at all.

"So, what do I do exactly?" I asked.

"Oh, you have to perform Omairi first, obviously, and then just step inside and wait for a sign!" the male villager said, barely containing his excitement.

"Okay," I replied, letting myself trail off at the end. I bowed once, pushed away some vines, and stepped inside the temple.

A sign hit me right away. Barely after I stepped inside the temple did I start breathing in shallow, fast breaths, needing the support of a wall.

I managed to return to the outside, shaking. I completely forgot about completing Omairi, but that wasn't important right now. The villager and his wife asked me if I was special, and somehow they thought I said yes. . . don't know how that happened.

Anyway, while they were screaming and running back to the village shouting that they had found a descendant, I was still shocked that that temple wasn't a temple at all. It was my old house, I remember it clearly. My parents and sister had once lived there.

So, why was it all overgrown now? Where did they go? Even though I had no idea where my sister was now, I still felt like I had discovered an important clue. I felt satisfied now that I knew where my house was, because it was the starting point for everything I wanted.

So, this is all I wrote for the assignment. . . but if you want more, please let me know!